


That Good Good

by northofthehouse



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Romance, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 13,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northofthehouse/pseuds/northofthehouse
Summary: Luhan accidentally gets a boyfriend and doesn't quite understand how.
Relationships: Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Lu Han/Oh Sehun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Luhan: Open Up Your Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted on AFF. (Possibly) Also a repeat post to AO3 from my previously orphaned account (I don't remember what I posted and what I didn't). Not plagiary!

Luhan isn't quite sure how it happens. One moment he's gushing with Yixing over his virtual crush; the next, Yixing's accidentally on-purpose sent the Korean dance prodigy a relationship request.

"Omo!" Luhan shrieks as he smacks Yixing hard across the chest. He doesn't use the more traditional Chinese "Wo de tian ah!" because his obsession with Korean culture began long before Oh Sehun visited his school to dance in a benefit concert. "Zhang Yixing!"

Yixing laughs and his dimples make everything forgivable in Luhan's eyes, especially since he's sure the request is one of many the classical star receives from fans across Asia. "Now you can tell everyone you've confessed to your crush," Yixing argues with an enormously smug grin. "People won't think you're a coward anymore!"

"That was one time, okay." Luhan hates being reminded of his ill-fated crush on their Canadian exchange student. Everyone at their high school had known about it except for Yifan himself, and it's been two years but Luhan still feels like an idiot sometimes.

"Well," Yixing agrees magnanimously, "now it's definitely one time. You're welcome." He tosses Luhan's phone back into his lap, and Yixing's careless aim has Luhan scrambling to catch the phone from falling off the bed; he's successful, but only because the phone ends up in his hand and it's him on the floor instead.

The rest of their night proceeds like all the rest of their standing Friday sleepovers do. Yixing gushes about Tao while Luhan nods like he cares and tries not to fall asleep. They watch a historical rom com set in Prague that has a protagonist who looks a lot like Yifan, actually, and it's then that Luhan really does fall asleep, cuddling into his best friend's side while Yixing just rolls his eyes and finishes the movie.

Luhan doesn't check his SNS until a few days later, partly because he had too much work to let himself be distracted by social media, and partly because Yixing had changed the password after Luhan fell asleep and wouldn't tell his friend what it was until they saw each other in person at their 8am nutrition elective that following Monday morning.

"Fix it." Luhan demands firmly as he thrusts his phone into a seated Yixing's shoulder. Yixing isn't ready because Luhan's never early for anything, especially an early Monday class, but he just smiles his forgivable smile and takes the device.

"Are you sure you want me to?" Yixing asks slyly, and Luhan hates that his friend seems to know something he doesn't.

"Yes, you idiot," Luhan insults in annoyed exhaustion. "I just want to be able to send poor Oh Sehun a message apologizing for your behavior." He doesn't add that he hopes his apology will spark a conversation which will spark a relationship and then sugar and roses from there, but Yixing's been Luhan's best friend fro years, so he probably already knows.

Yixing shakes his head with a chuckled, unlocking the SNS account while Luhan collapses into his seat and drops his head onto the desk for some emergency shut eye before lecture.

"It's babydaddy, by the way," Yixing comments nonchalantly as he tosses Luhan's phone back to him and misses, like he always does. "The password."

Luhan picks up his phone and dusts off the screen before shooting his friend a look that says he's really not amused. The distraction of Yixing's practical joke is enough to keep Luhan's attention away from the screen, so it's not until the professor's already started lecturing that Luhan hides his phone in his lap and checks his notifications.

He has 127 of them from Saturday alone. Plus the ones from Sunday and Monday so far, and Luhan's looking at more notifications than he's gotten on any birthday or picture, ever, and probably even all of those combined. Luhan doesn't understand what's happening, so his first instinct is to glare at Yixing until the other mouths a mischievously pleased "What?"

What, indeed. Luhan holds up his iPhone to show his friend the screen, and Yixing winks at him before glancing at the teacher and pointing at something on Luhan's page. There, to Luhan's utter amazement, especially since he'd somehow not noticed it before, is a recent update to his information; one that says, in big, bold letters, "Luhan is now **in a relationship** with Oh Sehun."

Yixing's grin could light up the block, or at least the classroom, but Luhan can't even move. He doesn't know what's going on. Doesn't know if he's dreaming or not. Doesn't know how this happened in the first place. So to deal—or not—he signs out, stuffed the phone deep into his backpack, and tries to pay attention.

Except he can't, because apparently he's now dating _the_ Oh Sehun, and all Luhan can think is "Holy _crap_!" because, really, what else is he supposed to do?


	2. Sehun: Open Up Your Mind

Sehun isn't really sure what it was that compelled him to check SNS when he hadn't in almost a week and a half. He'd been too busy for it, actually, choreographing one of the songs for EXO's comeback and filming a video with BoA at the same time; but for some reason, he had a sudden urge that Friday night to sign in to his account. Of all the messages and friend requests he'd received, he was surprised to notice a relationship request in the mix as well, and it was a strange force stronger than curiosity that prompted him to creep on the Chinese male's page.

He wasn't gay, necessarily, but he wasn't not gay, either, so it didn't really bother him that the requester, someone named Luhan, apparently was gay himself. At least, Sehun assumed he was, since there was another male, Zhang Yixing, with the relationship title of "Ex-boyfriend" included in Luhan's personal information; not to mention the relationship request that had prompted this whole SNS-stalking session in the first place. Sehun's first thought was that the boy was really cute, in a sort of deer-like way, and that he looked a lot younger than his status as a college junior in Beijing would suggest. The dance prodigy was surprised, too, to see that Luhan apparently attended the university that Sehun had visited on tour just last month, and Sehun found himself wishing he'd had the chance to meet the other boy in person so he could see for himself how adorable Luhan truly was.

It's that thought which prompted Sehun's spur-of-the-moment acceptance of Luhan's request. Why not, right? Besides, he liked Luhan from what he saw of the Chinese boy's pictures and the witty quotes left in the "About Me" information section, and since Sehun had the popularity of an idol, but none of the restrictions of actually being one, he was free to date in public just like the regular citizenry of China and South Korea.

Except in reality, Sehun wasn't really a regular citizen at all. True he could date if he wanted, but that didn't mean his manager wasn't going to call him at 6:30 the next morning in a panic over the whole situation.

"Relax, hyung," Sehun was groggy when he answered the call the third time around, after the first two went to voicemail. "He's in China and I'm not. It'll be fine."

"Fine?" Kyungsoo's voice was screechy and it was giving Sehun a headache. "Fine?! Yah! Oh Sehun! You think you've gotten this popular just by doing whatever you wanted? No!" Sehun knew all of this very well, actually, but he allowed his manager hyung to shout at him a little longer because he knew that Kyungsoo was really just hurt by the thought that Sehun had gotten into a relationship without telling him.

"I'm your hyung, right?" Kyungsoo wrapped up his lecture and tried his best too sound pitiful when he added, "Just tell me next time."

Sehun grunted, but Kyungsoo took it as enough of an agreement to hang up the phone with a reminder that Sehun had one last day with EXO before he could take the next few off.

After he'd had some coffee and had woken up the last bit of himself that Kyungsoo's yelling hadn't managed to bother, Sehun's Saturday was basically like all the other days of his week: long and tiring. The EXO idols weren't too bad, though, and all six of them expressed congratulations to their favorite choreographer over his newly public relationship.

Chen, who Sehun thought maybe liked Xiumin a little more than SM said that he could, actually wondered how long he and Luhan had been together for before the SNS announcement. When Sehun blankly answered that he'd never even met the guy on the other end of his "In a relationship" status, Chen had loudly proclaimed "Ey!" and winked boldly like he didn't believe Sehun for a second.

"You're the man, my man," Kai added with a wink of his own. "Your secret's safe with us!" Sehun would have been more appreciative if there were an actual secret to keep, so he just sort of smiled halfway and clapped once to get them all practicing again.

That Sunday and Monday he had off, so when he finally checks his notifications around the same time as 8am nutrition when Luhan does, Sehun is actually pleasantly surprised by the number of positive responses he and his new boyfriend have received.

" _Oppa's new man is a cutie!_ "

" _I'm so jealous! I want a Chinese boyfriend too!_ "

" _Do you have any pics together? I wanna see~_ "

Not to mention what would probably print to pages and pages of " _Oppas FIGHTING!_ " and " _Jia You_!"

Sehun isn't particularly invested in his and Luhan's relationship yet—they haven't even met, after all—but still, it makes him happy to see such support from his fans, so he thanks them by working hard on his day off and dropping a surprise dance cover of the currently popular Chinese song "That Good Good" by that same Monday evening.

He even records a thank you message afterward, in which he basically says all the usual things—I love you all; you're the best fans in the world; thanks for being so supportive—but then also winks at the very, _very_ end and adds, "He _is_ very cute, huh?"


	3. Luhan: I'll Tell You About How It's Gonna Feel

It's almost like a sort of darkness descends on Luhan for the rest of that day. He went to classes, and his part time job, and did all the assignments due that next day, but his phone stayed deeply buried in his bag. Even Yixing, when he wanted to know if Luhan was coming to dinner with him and the rest of their friends, had to physically stop by Luhan's dorm because the latter wasn't interested in human contact in the slightest. Luhan had refused to come out, refused to open the door, refused to go to dinner on campus and subject himself to all the stares and whispers he'd experienced on the walk back home alone. So he said no thanks, Yixing shrugged, and both silently agreed in their thoughts to see each other the next day in yet another of their shared classes.

"You knew!" Luhan's proceeded past the fear-inducing denial of the whole situation, and now that Yixing's an easy target who's sitting right next to him before class starts, Luhan's mad. "And you said nothing. No warning. No, hey, Luhan, you might want to know that, blah blah blah. Nothing!"

Yixing had the wisdom to look sheepish, though the appearance of his dimples made Luhan sigh because he remained powerless against them, no matter how angry he was.

"I hate you," he whined in exhaustion, dropping his head to his desk like he had the day before.

"Can I try to redeem myself?" Yixing wants to know, and Luhan is suddenly worried because Yixing's wearing his "I know something you don't know" face, and the last time this happened Luhan ended up with a boyfriend and the wrath of netizens in two countries yelling at him over the Internet.

"That depends," Luhan considers. "Do you know how to get rid of comment notifications?" Yixing raises a curious eyebrow and Luhan explains. "The likes I can deal with. It's the nasty things people are saying that I can't."

"Like what?" Yixing subscribes to Sehun's channel as a dancer himself, so he already knows about the wink and kind of confession, but he's the type to remember someone else's SNS password while completely forgetting his own, so he has no idea what Luhan's talking about. "I mean, before I changed yours and signed you out Friday night, the few that I saw were all really encouraging and nice." He looked at Luhan appraisingly to try lightening the mood and teased, "I don't see it, personally, but some even said you were sexy!"

Yixing and Luhan exchange a grossed out glance before they both shudder. "Please never tell me that again," Luhan pleads. "I'm beyond disturbed right now."

Yixing grins because that was his goal, honestly, and Luhan's mind remains distracted all the way through two lectures, one with Yixing and one without. He makes it to his shift at the library, too, without much incident, but it's there that the temporary peace is shattered.

"Oh my god!" He hears a shrill voice shriek near the doors, about a stone's throw from where he's sitting at the circulation desk. "You're Sehun-oppa's boyfriend!" The foreign term sounds strange coming in between her Mandarin exclamation, but Luhan just assumes she's that much of a fan, and doesn't even bother trying to deny it because he thinks she'd probably disbelieve him.

He doesn't confirm it either, though, so she's forced to come a lot closer to confirm, at which point she decides their basically best friends in their admiration for the dancer, and tries to start a conversation over it. It's turns more into an insult session, actually, as time goes on, because Luhan can see his cantankerous boss lingering between the stacks with her sharp glare on him as the girl approaches, so he tries his best not to converse and ends up getting insulted for it.

"So what," the girl's face is flushed now. She's clearly upset. "You think that because it looks like you've managed to ensnare our oppa that you're good enough for him? He's probably just taking pity on you while he finds himself a real relationship. One with a girl, too!"

Luhan's shocked by what he thinks might be a homophobic slur, but he can see that it's more of the girl trying to give herself hope that Sehun still likes women, too, so he lets it slide with no other reaction than to silently kick her out. Yixing approached while she was speaking, so he helps, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away when she at first refused to comply with Luhan's order to "Please, leave."

"Rough," Yixing summarizes as he drapes himself over Luhan's work desk. He's just come from the studio, so his sweat makes everything a little slippery on the laminate and earns both boys an additional glare from the lurking librarian. Luhan still nods in agreement as he checks his watch. He gets off in less than ten minutes, and when he tells his friend this, Yixing agrees to wait out of the way until they can leave for the dorms together.

"I wish you hadn't done it," Luhan confesses to Yixing as they walk side by side. His phone is out, finally, and he's twirling it absentmindedly in his hands as he speaks, more of a nervous habit than anything. "I'm not sure I can deal with all the negativity, you know?"

Actually, Yixing has no idea, because the worst moments of his relationship had been when he's graduated a year before his high school sweetheart, and they'd had to explain for an entire year to people that no, Tao wasn't dating a pedophile, statutory rapist. But even that was mostly hassle, and it's been two years since then, so Yixing really can't relate.

"It's just that one girl, though," he argues, trying to help Luhan see the positive side of all this: that he has a boyfriend, one who even thinks he's cute. "And your bae doesn't seem too bothered by it, so why are you? He even thanked all his fans for their kind support."

"I hate that so much," Luhan declares feelingly. "If you ever call him my bae again, I'll tell Tao about that time we went to KTV freshman year and—"

He doesn't get to finish because Yixing slaps a hand over his friend's mouth to silence Luhan in a panic. "You promised!" He pouts.

"No bae," Luhan's firm in this, promise or no. "And it's not just one girl! All the comments I've read are stuff like "He's too good for you," or "Oppa, you could do better—like me!" or "He's probably not even that good a lay," or—"

Again, he's interrupted by Yixing's hand on his mouth, though this time the touch is much more gentle. "You can't do this to yourself, Lu-Lu. And again, Sehun wouldn't have done his "That Good Good" cover if he hadn't been pleased with the online response, right?"

Luhan nods, even though he doesn't know what Yixing's talking about, so Yixing just keeps speaking. "Besides, Lu," Yixing makes sure to emphasize this because he feels it's most important, "he thinks you're _cute_! Who cares what everyone else thinks?"

Luhan's about to nod again, when he stops dead suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk. "Wait," he squeaks to Yixing, who hadn't noticed and keeps going. "Wait! What? He thinks I'm cute? Oh my god! Oh Sehun thinks I'm cute! No! My boyfriend! I have a boyfriend and he's famous and he thinks I'm cute!"

Yixing thinks it's funny when Luhan combusts like this, so he just kind of let's Luhan's freak out run its course.

"Wait!" Luhan says, for a third time, too. "When did he say that?" He raises a skeptical eyebrow at his friend and adds, "I no longer believe anything you say."

That's not fair, really, so Yixing pouts, making sure to display his dimples just right until Luhan caves and offers a half-assed "Sorry."

It's enough between the two of them, though, so Yixing's quickly back to grinning while he sacrifices some of his precious monthly data allowance to show Luhan Sehun's newest video.

"He's so sexy," Luhan groans at almost regular intervals, making his best friend laugh uproariously enough to nearly shake the phone out of his hand and onto the concrete. Luhan's used to this so he catches it before it can drop, but that has him missing the wink and he makes Yixing go all the way back to the beginning so he can fully experience the glory of Sehun's beauty once more. He does finally see the famous wink, though, and when he hears Sehun's pleasantly lisped voice comment slyly on Luhan's own cuteness, Luhan's face turns about as red as the sweat suit Sehun's wearing in his video.

"Oh my god!" He's panicking again. It's now Tuesday night, almost exactly twenty-four hours since "That Good Good" was posted, and almost five days since he and Sehun have been "In a relationship." Mostly, Luhan wants to just die, right then, of happiness overload. A very, very small part of him though, is worried, too, because it's Luhan's move again, and he's not quite sure what to do next.


	4. Sehun: I'll Tell You About How It's Gonna Feel

Sehun, aside from having no idea what Luhan's going through, is used to the sometimes negative attention that accompanies fame, so he knows to only look for the good things, and continues to be pleased by his fans' reactions. The one reaction he wants, though, doesn't come.

He doesn't start working again until Wednesday, which means his entire Tuesday was spent flopped on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and wondering why his new boyfriend hadn't reacted. As the hours dragged on and Sehun caught himself checking his phone for notifications almost obsessively, he seriously contemplated reaching out on his own and just sending Luhan an SNS message. Except the longer he thought about it, the more it seemed to Sehun like Luhan should be the one reaching out first, especially since Sehun had called him cute and made the video. So he did nothing on Tuesday at all, and can only whine the whole next morning to Kyungsoo as his manager hyung drives them to the studio.

"It's like he doesn't even like me," Sehun's pouting and it's adorable enough to distract even a happily committed Kyungsoo from his driving.

"Stop that," Kyungsoo demands with a glare through the driver mirror. "You look like a dying duck." He doesn't, but the insult works anyway because Sehun huffs and folds his arms, but stops the pouting. "And of course he likes you; the guy confessed first, remember?"

Kyungsoo doesn't know the whole story because Sehun didn't tell him all the details, so from his limited knowledge of the situation, that seems like pretty solid logic. Still, the press of the mouse to send the relationship request might have been an accidental fluke for all Sehun knows, and the fact that he hasn't heard anything else from his boyfriend in the past five days is not comforting. Sehun doesn't even understand why he's so bothered by this; why the thought that Luhan never liked him is so upsetting, especially when they haven't even met. Regardless, Sehun can't help how he's feeling, which is why he continues to complain to Kyungsoo for the rest of the day.

"What if he's tired of long distance? What if he's found someone else?" Sehun processes out loud after practice when Kyungsoo drives him home for a quick change before he heads to a party for EXO's comeback showcase.

"I saw your "That Good Good" video," Kyungsoo reassures. "You're very clearly into him, so just give the guy some time to get used to the limelight." Sehun nods because that's convincing advice, but the Kyungsoo adds for good measure, "And I don't know about before because apparently you don't tell my important things, but you two probably had a lot more privacy, so now that you don't, it's a lot to handle. Especially alone."

That last part seemed almost like an off handed jab, but Sehun doesn't bother defending himself or correcting Kyungsoo's assumption because what his manager is saying makes a lot of sense. Sehun's own rise to the public eye had taken a lot of time and hard work, but Luhan's had occurred in the span of a weekend and the most support he'd gotten from his so called boyfriend was a wink—basically fan service anyway.

"I've got to go see him!" Sehun concludes suddenly, and aloud, just as Kyungsoo is pulling up to the dancer's small apartment. "Hyung!" He turns to his manager with a pleasing look and is surprised by the smug smile he finds on Kyungsoo's face. "Hyung?"

"It's funny how things happen," Kyungsoo comments nonchalantly, "because the CEO and I were chatting just this morning about the necessity of you doing a few surprise shows throughout China; you know, to make the most of your sudden spike in popularity."

Kyungsoo doesn't have to finish because Sehun knows exactly where this is going and he's surprised by how happy he is about it. "Hyung!" He exclaims again, and Kyungsoo's heart lips spread into an enormously self-satisfied grin.

"I know," Kyungsoo finishes for Sehun. "You're welcome."

"I'm so excited I could kiss you!" Sehun cheers, and he's so amused by the face Kyungsoo makes at his words that he actually cries from laughter.

"Save that for Luhan, Mister!" Kyungsoo's rejection is firm, but his eyes are twinkling, and Sehun thinks that maybe his manager is almost as excited about meeting Luhan as Luhan's boyfriend is himself.


	5. Luhan: I'm Not About Competition (Wo Bu Xie BiSai)

It is late Thursday afternoon, and Sehun is already in China by the time Luhan's next move comes into play.

The Chinese boy doesn't know, of course, that he and Sehun are basically walking right by each other, one through Departures and one through Arrivals. There'd been a small crowd waiting and blocking everyone else's entrance to the airport, but Luhan hadn't been bothered enough by it to care about whichever celebrity was arriving in his city. Instead, he'd been driven with laser-like focus through the check-in and security lines, actually making it to the gate an entire two hours early because he was so excited about finally meeting his boyfriend.

Tao, who was studying computer science and knew about that kind of thing, had read on a message board somewhere about a "surprise" recital Sehun was going to put on for his supportive fans. As soon as he'd told his boyfriend, who'd then told Luhan almost immediately after, Luhan had scrambled to beg enough money from his friends and family to buy a ticket to Seoul. As such, that's where Luhan is when his phone rings loudly enough to interrupt what was quickly turning from exhilaration to apprehension. Though it is a little late in the day for sleeping, Luhan was also trying to catch a nap, so he is understandably a little groggy and bleary-eyed when he reads Yixing's name on the caller ID and picks up the call with a gruff, "Wei?"

"Sehun!" That's the first thing Yixing says, and it's surprising.

Luhan nods, though he knows his best friend won't see it, and mumbles something along the lines of "Yes, I know. That's why I'm at the airport, you moron."

"No, no!" Yixing is strangely adamant; that isn't usually part of his character when Tao isn't involved, so his friend's earnestness makes Luhan a little uncomfortable, to say the least. "Sehun!"

"Saying his name over and over again isn't helping my nerves, okay!" Luhan's interrupted cat nap is making him grumpier even than his usual sleep deprived general annoyance, so he snaps at Yixing without really meaning to. He doesn't have to apologize, though, because his friend isn't there to pout with his damned dimples, so Luhan gets off scott free, this time.

"I mean," Yixing emphasizes emphatically, not bothered by Luhan's shortness because he knows Tao can beat his best friend up if necessary. "He's here!"

"I feel like you're confused, Xing-ah. He was here before, but he's Korean so he's in Seoul right now." Luhan's voice has turned almost instantaneously gentle because sometimes Yixing's forgetfulness is worrying, really.

"I'm not an idiot," Yixing bites out, wishing they were having this conversation in person so he could make Luhan be a little nicer. "And you're being mean; my dimples are crying."

Luhan sighs—his weakness is obvious, it seems—and then asks after a moment of brief contemplation, "But Taozi said he'd be performing Friday night! We discussed this!"

"He still is!" Yixing feels like they're having two separate conversations, so it's his understandable exasperation that just makes him blurt out the entirety of what he's called to say, even though he's pretty sure Luhan won't handle the news well. "Except it's not in Korea, it's here, at our school. He's here, Lu-Lu! He came to see you!"

"Oh my god!" Yep, Luhan's broken and it's Yixing's fault. "You know you can't just lay it all on me like that, Xing-Xing! You've got to warn me! Oh my god, I think I'm hyperventilating! Yixing! What do I do?"

Yixing answers as Luhan's repeated "What do I do?" plays on a loop. "Um, cancel your seat I guess?" He's completely sure, but he knows Luhan needs his advice presented like a tentative suggestion, or else his own stubbornness will get in the way and he'll refuse to do it simply because Yixing told him to. "Maybe come back to your dorm and do homework? It's only Thursday, Lu. There's no point in freaking the hell out until tomorrow."

"Easy for you to say!" Luhan nearly shrieks, even as he gathers his stuff off his waiting area chair and begins to trek back the way he came. "You know your boyfriend. You've met him. You can recognize him from a distance. You know if you even get along. And the whole world knows how much Tao likes you—if PDA is enough to go by!" Luhan sounds bitter but he doesn't care. "And speaking of, since it's your boyfriend's fault in even at the airport, can you come get me?"

Yixing sighs, but they both know he has nothing better to do, at least not on Thursday afternoons. "Don't mention it to Tao—he already feels bad enough about this as it is—and I'll be there in thirty minutes."

Luhan agrees instantly, "Deal!" and doesn't really mind waiting by the Arrivals Starbucks because he thinks it's fun people watching when there are foreigners around. The girls are still flocking, but Luhan doesn't really make any conscious connection as to who their waiting for; Yixing told him Sehun was already in China, which Luhan took to mean a different city altogether. He's understandably surprised, then, to see a vaguely familiar gait as a platinum blonde man walks right by him, surrounded by the ecstatically cheering fans.

Sehun doesn't see Luhan, and Luhan doesn't even really see Sehun until it's too late to do anything about it anyway; but it's happened, their first moment together, and if Luhan wasn't freaking out before, he damn sure is now. Yixing, when his car pulls up fifteen or so minutes later, hears the story and responds with appropriate disappointment, and frankly, Luhan appreciates the show of support, sincere or no.

Yixing tries telling his best friend, "It's okay, though, because you'll see him tomorrow. You're his boyfriend and he's here for you, isn't he?"

Luhan nods skeptically, thinking specifically back to the brief, though seemingly familiar touch of a shorter, dark-haired man's hand against Sehun's as the dancer and his entourage exited the airport, and replies, his tone resigned, "You know what, Xing-ah, maybe it's best for him if I'm not his boyfriend." Luhan thinks of the adoring fans, too, and just the general mob of people that surrounded Sehun and swarmed along with every step the dancer took. "I'll go the show tomorrow night," he reassures his worriedly sympathetic best friend, "I'll just lowkey love him from the back, you know? He's here for his fans, really, and they deserve to see him dance much more than I do."

Yixing disagrees, but again, he knows that if he tells Luhan "Stop being silly," or "Just because you're apparently dating now doesn't mean you weren't a fan first," then Luhan will sink further into this shell. No, Yixing knows that what's best is for Luhan to come to those realizations on his own; it might take a while longer, but he'll get there, Yixing's confident of that.


	6. Sehun: I'm Not About Competition (Wo Bu Xie BiSai)

In Sehun's defense, he probably would have been able to recognize his own boyfriend from among the crowd if Luhan's hair were still its traditional dark brown like in all the Chinese boy's SNS photos. As it was, though, Luhan had attended a mandatory chemistry lab—he hates that class—the day before Sehun's arrival, and Yixing had been distracted enough to accidentally set Luhan's hair on fire with one of the lighters for the Bunsen burner. Luhan was fine, physically at least, but his hair was a strange sort of sooty, blackened color, as well as considerably shorter on one side than it used to be. When not even a strong couple of washes could return his color to normal, Luhan had just gone to the salon, gotten his hair restyled and dyed a bright cotton candy pink—for the hell of it; he made Yixing pay for all of it as retribution, too. Basically, then, Luhan's hair was now most definitely not the color Sehun was expecting and almost subconsciously checking over his shoulder for, so he didn't see his boyfriend at the airport and Kyungsoo drove them to the hotel without further incident.

It's not until Sehun takes a cursory glance at Luhan's page—it's become an almost unhealthy obsession at this point—that he realizes they'd been so close and yet so far at the same time. He berates himself for this fact, pouting over how cute Luhan's new hair looks, and vaguely recalling a brief glimpse of someone with hair that color sitting in the Starbucks while he and Kyungsoo exited together.

He remembers all this and knows how great the pink looks with Luhan's glasses because the boy in question posted a pouting, captionless selfie at the airport with a time stamp that coincides with Sehun's arrival timeline. Sehun doesn't know that Luhan's looking sad about the supportive brush of Kyungsoo's fingers, and not about their missed first meeting, and almost everyone who comments on the selfie remain about as oblivious too. Most of them think it's cute that Luhan's waiting for Sehun's arrival, or else sad that he's dyed his hair to stay conspicuously under the radar. Everyone agrees that Luhan's pout makes him look like a baby angel, and Sehun feels a particular welling of jealousy when Yixing—the apparent ex in Luhan's SNS informational history—writes "Yeah, you're cute, Lu-Lu. Whatever. But when are you coming back?"

Sehun catches this comment after a bored refresh of the page and realizes Yixing is writing in real time. He's surprised by the immediately jealousy he feels at Yixing's blatant request for Luhan to leave Sehun and get back with him, so with a sudden start, Sehun bounds off the hotel bed. Though he contemplates shouting his plans to Kyungsoo through the din of the shower, Sehun instead just leaves a note that tells his manager that Sehun's gone to the university to find Luhan himself. Sehun knows Kyungsoo will be annoyed about his charge just taking off like this, but Sehun is so energized all of a sudden that he can't stand to wait another second; if he's lucky, too, Kyungsoo will assume something similar: that Sehun was desperate to reunite with his boyfriend and didn't want to wait to see the Chinese boy until the show. Regardless, Sehun signs his name at the bottom, grabs his wallet, jacket, and phone, and rushes out the door just as the shower shuts off and Kyungsoo calls out an uncertain "Sehun?"

By the time he finds the note, Sehun's already in a taxi on his way, explaining patiently to the curious driver that, yes, he is the famous foreign boyfriend of one of the students, and yes, their faces have probably both been on at least the entertainment news. He notes the call but doesn't answer any of the three times Kyungsoo tries to reach him, and it's with nervous apprehension that he thanks the driver, pays the fare, and walks with a polite nod to the guard, through the campus gateway.

He's recognized quite blatantly wherever he walks, and it's annoying in general, but also proves a little helpful when Sehun asks for, and readily receives, Luhan's dorm location in return for an autograph and a picture. The boy he speaks with is sort of strange looking, with small slits for eyes that are practically drowning in dark circles, but the boy seems a little threatening, too, so Sehun just smiles, thanks him, and escapes the encounter as soon as he can. That's why he doesn't hear Tao call Yixing less than 30 seconds later with a warning that Luhan's boyfriend is on his way.

Except Yixing and Luhan aren't at the dorm—they're not even on campus—because they went out to a cafe to destress over lemon bars and bubble tea; so when Sehun finally does make it to Luhan's house—so to speak—the guard won't let him in, but it's empty anyway.

Luckily for this couple's fate, though, Luhan and Sehun still end up meeting. It doesn't happen at the airport; it doesn't even happen in Luhan's dorm. Instead, it happens when Luhan is rushing so frantically to get back to campus before he misses his boyfriend again, that he runs literally right into Sehun and knocks the both of them the the ground.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Luhan apologizes, not yet aware of the situation and still trying to hurry. "But I've got to run; my friend,  
Yixing can help you up tho–Sehun?"

He says all this in rapid Mandarin that Sehun speaks, just not at that speed. The dancer does, at least, catch the name Yixing, as well as the startled mention of his own name, and also manages to recognize cotton candy when he sees it this time.

"Luhan?"


	7. Luhan and Sehun: I Can Take You High (Wo Hui Rang Ni High)

Luhan doesn't know what to do—doesn't know what to say—so he runs, hiding behind his best friend like Yixing is some shield-carrying vassal from the Ming dynasty. He catches Sehun's piercing glare from behind Yixing's shoulder and flinches noticeably.

"See," he whispers dejectedly into his best friend's ear, "I told you he didn't want me."

Yixing shakes his head—Sehun looks pretty angry, but still, it can't be true—and the Korean dancer takes a jolting step forward, hand outstretched and mouth open in protest. Luhan, though, flinches again, this time taking a step backward as he does so and falling hard to the ground as a result.

"Luhan!" Sehun's shout is loud and panicked, and the pink haired boy is pleasantly surprised by the urgency he hears in his boyfriend's voice. "Are you alright?"

Like the traitor his is, Yixing steps aside to clear Sehun's path, thereby allowing the taller man direct access to rush to Luhan's side. Luhan, for his part, is thoroughly embarrassed, and the blush that tinges his cheeks as Sehun reaches him is almost the same cotton-candy color as his hair.

"Are you alright?" Sehun asks again, this time from a crouching position as he stretches out a hand to pull Luhan up. When Luhan nods slowly, startled to realize that his boyfriend is speaking Mandarin—and not too badly either—Sehun surprises them both by pulling Luhan into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," he apologizes into Luhan's pink hair, pressing a chaste kiss against Luhan's forehead.

Luhan feels like his entire body is blushing at this point, but he manages to stutter "Oh, no, I mean, I was just, you know, surprised to see you." He pulls away as soon as Sehun lets him, and takes a subconscious step toward the protectively comfortable presence of his best friend.

Sehun sees this and sighs; he'd known there was something between them from the first moment he creeped on Luhan's SNS page. He's not expecting it, then, when Luhan raises a hand in Yixing's direction and introduces nonchalantly, "This is my best friend, Zhang Yixing. I think his boyfriend, Tao, gave you directions."

Sehun looks confused, so Luhan tries elaborating. "Tall," he gestures as he speaks. "Dark eye bags like a panda."

"A little too skinny and kind of scary in an unexpected way?" Sehun finishes the description like its a question, and Luhan confirms with an excited "Exactly!" while Yixing just grumbles under his breath that his best friend is a jerk.

"But I thought," Sehun starts sheepishly, taking a step forward to converse better with his shorter boyfriend. He doesn't finish and Luhan raises a curious eyebrow. "On your SNS information," Sehun adds. "Dating history."

Yixing barks out a laugh that Sehun thinks is both too amused and entirely uncalled for. Luhan just smiles like he's guilty for some reason and Sehun wonders why.

"Oh that!" Yixing's still laughing, and if Sehun's curiousity didn't outweigh his annoyance, he'd probably have snapped by now. As it is, Sehun remains silent and tries his best to be patient while waiting for Luhan to explain.

"You're my first real boyfriend," Luhan admits with a shy smile and a blush that has now reached his ears. Sehun thinks it's cute and doesn't mention that Luhan's technically Sehun's first real boyfriend, too. "But on SNS it's okay to fudge the truth a little, don't you think?" He asks Yixing for conspiratorial confirmation, but his best friend just shrugs. "Anyway," Luhan continues with a dramatic eye roll, "Xing-Xing and I decided to be each other's mutual ex so that we didn't look so pathetic for being single."

"Except I'm happily dating Tao now," Yixing interjects, "so really the only pathetic one here is you, Lu-Lu."

His words are accompanied by a childish sticking out of the tongue, and Luhan replies with a swat at Yixing's chest. "Yeah, well, my boyfriend's famous," he says too.

"You barely know each other," Yixing bickers back, and it's clear to Sehun that the two friends have very nearly forgotten his existence.

"Tao's younger than you, you paedo," is Luhan's response.

"By a year!" Yixing gasps indignantly. He smirks smugly then and adds with a victorious finish, "Kris-ge was at least two."

"Who?" Sehun picks this point of their argument to interrupt, partly because he's really interested in Luhan's romantic history and partly because he thinks those two would bicker all night if he let them. He watches with interest as Luhan buries his face in his hands in embarrassment and Yixing chuckles cheerfully, pleased to have won.

"His first crush," Yixing offers Sehun helpfully.

"Why so embarrassed, Lu-Lu," Sehun asks, his voice teasing as he adopts the nickname from Yixing. "First crushes don't really matter to me. Not since I'll be your last."

He winks, powerfully, and Luhan swoons so hard that Yixing's forced to catch him.


	8. Luhan: I Got That

Though Sehun claimed he'd be Luhan's last crush, and though Yixing believed the Korean boy's pseudo-confession wholeheartedly, Luhan isn't as convinced. For one thing, he and Sehun haven't even had a date yet, and the guy has already kissed him; that's a little presumptuous, in Luhan's opinion. For another, he and Sehun haven't even had a date yet.

Luhan knows he's cute because Tao is the definitive encyclopedia for all things adorable and he'd said, more than once, that Luhan fits the bill. In terms of personality, though, Yixing tells Luhan all the time that he is not only chronically grumpy, but also way too excited over the weirdest things. Hence, while Luhan is sure Sehun liked the person he saw in pictures and briefly in person last night, he isn't so positive that the dancer will be interested once they get to know each other.

"Can't the same logic be applied to the opposite?" Yixing asks lazily from his spot at the foot of Luhan's bed. Tao's at Luhan's desk, watching some cutesy anime that isn't worth all the squeals he's giving it, and Luhan has thrown a pillow at Yixing's boyfriend more than once since this waiting period began. The three of them are chilling before Sehun's show tonight, and Luhan could feel the nerves consuming him, so he does what he does best: picks a fight with his best friend.

"Wrong." Luhan deadpans. "I already know that Sehun's perfect, okay."

"But he held that guy's hand," Yixing reminds his friend, "didn't he?"

Luhan contemplates throwing a pillow at Yixing, too, but it's over by the desk where he tossed it last and it's way too much work to retrieve it. Instead, he complains, "You're always reminding me of the worst stuff, you jerk. Just let me be happy for once!"

"You're always poking me in the cheek when Tao and I are making out," Yixing shoots back in annoyance. "Happiness is too good for you."

It's Tao who stops them, this time, and not Sehun because Luhan hasn't seen the dancer since they exchanged numbers and parted ways the night before.

"You're drowning out the best part," Tao pouts. It's petulant and Luhan thinks it's annoyingly childish, but Yixing coos an apology and gets off the bed to kiss his boyfriend. When they start making out vigorously with Yixing now pulled securely onto his boyfriend's lap on Luhan's desk chair, the pink haired boy lets out an aggravated sigh and gets up too.

He doesn't poke Yixing's cheek like expected, though, because that wouldn't be a strong enough outlet for his current emotional turmoil. Instead, he reaches out a hand to knock the rocking-esque chair off balance, and sends both Yixing and his boyfriend tumbling to the floor.

"Luhan, what the hell?!" Yixing's groan is angry enough for Luhan to know nothing's too seriously injured, so he just lays back on his bed, clutches his belly, and laughs. "You're an ass," Yixing grumbles after picking himself and Tao up off the floor.

"Oh yeah?" Luhan challenges as he watches Tao right the chair with an aggrieved whine that's clearly for Yixing's benefit. "Well you love ass, so..." He leaves his response just sort of hanging in the air and it takes him a minute to realize why Tao and Yixing are giggling.

"I do," Yixing agrees magnanimously before returning to Tao's side and resuming their earlier make out session, though this time they've moved to Luhan's bed.

"Couples are the worst," Luhan moans under his breath, just as a text from his own boyfriend comes in, making his phone vibrate while Luhan's complaints about irony fall on Yixing and Tao's deaf ears.

From **Sehun** : Front row. Middle three seats. See you then.

Luhan blushes that his boyfriend is so thoughtful. He wants to gush to his best friend about it, but Yixing's decidedly busy at the moment, so he just smiles to himself and responds to Sehun.

From **Luhan** : Thanks! Break a leg tonight! I'll be cheering for you!

Sehun's reply is almost instantaneous and it makes Luhan smile even more.

From **Sehun** : Looking forward to it, Lu-Lu...Miss you.

Luhan paused for a moment, wishing desperately for Yixing's advice just about then. He comes to a decision on his own though—somehow—and writes something back before squealing happily and throwing his phone at his two friends rolling around on the bed.

From **Luhan** : ...Ditto


	9. Sehun: I Got That

"Hyung!" Sehun's sustained whine wakes Kyungsoo from his nap and the manager is not happy about it.

"Yah!" He shouts groggily at the dancer. "What does it take for a man to get some sleep around here?"

Sehun harrumphs and crosses his arms with a childish pout, but Kyungsoo gets the hint and knows how much anxiety Sehun's trying to hide by being juvenile.

"He gave you the right number, didn't he?" Kyungsoo questions. He already knows the answer but figures that reminding Sehun of that fact might still be somewhat reassuring.

"Well, yeah," Sehun agrees slowly, phone in hand. Luhan had just responded before Sehun bothered Kyungsoo, actually, but that doesn't help Sehun's nerves any. "But, hyung!" He whines again before jumping out of the way when Kyungsoo reaches out a hand to swat at him. The manager's glasses are on the counter in the bathroom, luckily, so Sehun escapes unscathed and continues. "I don't know what I'm doing. Like before, you know, I was totally smooth, right?"

Kyungsoo scoffs and Sehun just ignores the manager.

"But with him," Sehun's beginning to sound a little pitiful and it takes a lot out of Kyungsoo to appear sympathetic—instead of obviously amused. "With him," Sehun repeats obliviously, "I'm a total mess."

The dancer collapses on top of his unsuspecting manager, who still can't see too well without his glasses and isn't ready at all for a long body to drop on him from above.

"Yah!" Kyungsoo shouts indignantly once more, but the bed is soft and the mattress absorbs the extra weight enough that their position isn't too stifling for the manager, just a little uncomfortable. He's used to this though—Kyungsoo is—because Sehun on stage is sexy and collected, but in real life he's still only 22, and he can be just as clingy and bratty as he was when he and Kyungsoo first met. "Get off, you lard muffin."

Sehun emits a dramatic sigh and throws his arms back like he's stretching to get comfortable. "I think you mean stud muffin, don't you, hyung?"

Somehow, Kyungsoo manages to get his feet far enough under him to kick Sehun off, grunting an emphatic "No, that's not what I meant," as he does so. This earns an upset complaint of "Hyung doesn't love me!" but Kyungsoo doesn't care because at that moment his own boyfriend calls and the dancer is forgotten.

Sehun's grumpy now, at least a little, because he doesn't like being ignored by his manager hyung, and he feels like he can't text Luhan again because it's kind of pathetic to finish a conversation only to start one again less than fifteen minutes later. Honestly, he's sure Luhan wouldn't really mind, but it's getting close to when he's supposed to go get his hair and make up done, so Sehun passes the time by sitting on the floor where Kyungsoo's kick left him and pouting some more.

He thinks about last night; how surprising it was to run into Luhan—literally; how relieved he felt to discover the true nature of Luhan's relationship with Yixing; how cute Luhan looked with his pink hair and his constantly startled expression like he couldn't fully believe that Sehun was there, in the flesh. Sehun remembers something else about last night, too, and bangs his head a few times against his knees in embarrassment. It was a little presumptuous, he can admit, to kiss Luhan on their first meeting. They're boyfriends, sure, but he and Luhan haven't even had a date yet!

Yep, when it comes to Luhan, Sehun's hopeless, and as he stretches a little in the last few minutes before he and Kyungsoo have to get ready to leave, Sehun resolves to fix that about himself. He doesn't really know his boyfriend all that well yet, but from what he knows so far, Sehun wholeheartedly believes that Luhan deserves someone amazing. Sehun wants to be that for his boyfriend, and he hopes, after the recital tonight, that Luhan can see Sehun's cool side, too.


	10. Luhan and Sehun: Look For a Rhythm That You Know (Zhao Zhao Ni Hui de JieZou)

First there's the fun of squeezing past masses of people squished together like sardines and sitting side by side by side by side in an auditorium far too small to hold a showcase of Sehun's prowess. This is what Luhan tells his two friends, at least, as he inches forward to their seats in the very middle of the very front. He's on display almost as much as Sehun will be, and Luhan resists a very strong instinct to hide his face—to avoid overly curious gazes; to keep hithe judgement out; protect himself.

Then the lights are down and the curtains up, and Sehun is there and he's absolutely glorious. He moves like no one Luhan's ever seen, and the Chinese student feels so overwhelmed by gratitude that Sehun chose him, that he nearly chokes on his own tears.

The curtain comes back down as Sehun's bowing form is slowly hidden, and suddenly there's a swarm at Luhan's front and back and sides. "What's he like?" they want to know in invasively loud tones that make Luhan flinch. "You're so lucky," they tell him in softly awed voices that don't do enough to hide the envy that's clearly there too. "But why did he choose you? What's so special about you? How could someone like him date someone like you?" They ask this to each other, behind his back, or maybe not at all—maybe that's just what Luhan asks himself, in his head, when the intermission ends and the consuming beauty of Oh Sehun appears again.

A song plays and Sehun dances. Another plays and Sehun's body keeps moving, never losing the rhythm that Luhan's beginning to think is and innate and integral part of Sehun's very being. Luhan doesn't have that natural life beat; he can't dance, can barely sing, and doesn't even like going out dancing because it embarrasses him to see other moving badly.

Thoughts like these swirl around in Luhan's mind as Sehun moves almost like he knows. His body emulates the twists and dips and leaps of Luhan's logic and lack there of such that when the song is over, Luhan doesn't even realize that he show is over too because he's enraptured.

Absolutely, wholly, and completely enraptured. And yet also destroyed, because Luhan knows that there's no way he is enough.

So he leaves with the masses, sneaking out past an entangled Tao and Yixing—they left before the finale to make out in the lobby and probably don't even notice him anyway—and running away. He doesn't go to any of the usual places—the library, his dorm, his and Yixing's favorite bubble tea cafe—and when Sehun looks for him, after, Luhan's nowhere to be found.


	11. Luhan and Sehun: Don't Cry (Bu Hui Cry)

When the time finally comes, Luhan finds Sehun because despite hours of searching and help from Luhan’s friends, Sehun is no match for a boyfriend who knows the area and wants to hide. Admittedly, Yixing and Tao are students of the university too, but not even they would have thought to look for their awkwardly coordinated friend in any of the campus dance studios—which is where Luhan sat silently, mourning the impossibility of his relationship while the moon’s light gave way to early morning and his phone vibrated unceasingly in his bag. At some point Luhan’s sadness became exhaustion, and so he slept until the sun was at its peak.

Rest works wonders on a weary soul, and the Luhan who woke up in the dance studio was not the one who’d fallen asleep in it. Though his pessimism remained unwavering, the strength of his despair had dissipated considerably since those fateful final moments of Sehun’s showcase the night before. Luhan could now hope for a continued friendship, at least, and contemplated the best way to pose this suggestion as he stretched, gathered his bag and jacket, took a final glance around the studio, and went off to find Sehun.

Luhan's boyfriend is flitting anxiously about the building lobby of Luhan's dorm when the Chinese boy in question steps through the revolving front door completely lost in thought. Sehun's stress levels plummet instantly because at least now he knows Luhan's alright and not kidnapped or off lying abandoned in a ditch somewhere. But then Luhan doesn't notice Sehun as instantly as the dancer notices him and that sort of sends Sehun worrying again. His unspoken fears are confirmed and his anxiety is returned to its unbearable height when Luhan finally does see him hovering by the emergency exit and looks absolutely crushed to see him there.

"Oh no, baby," Sehun whispers frantically, the pet name slipping out almost unconsciously as he charges across the room until he and Luhan are standing face to face, "don't be sad." The Korean boy forgets to be angry at Luhan for running away and for making him worry like that because Luhan's expression suddenly crumples and he's in tears even before Sehun's fully reached him.

Sehun's arms automatically extend to envelop his boyfriend in a tight embrace. His hands rub soothing circles into Luhan's back and the two just stand there for a moment while Luhan cries and Sehun holds him through it.

"I wasn't ready," Luhan whimpers through great heaving sobs that speak more to the depths of his feelings for Sehun than words ever could. "I thought that I could handle this. Thought that I could end things and be done with feeling like this."

Sehun doesn't know what Luhan's talking about but the other boy's crying seems to be losing its steam so he just hugs a little tighter and presses a light kiss against Luhan's hair. He tries shushing Luhan when the smaller boy tries to keep talking but only ends up agitated again, yet it seems like Luhan won't be stopped.

"I wasn't ready," Luhan repeats, under his breath this time and so almost to himself. "I wasn't ready for you."

Sehun still doesn't quite understand what's going on with Luhan, but on that point, at least, he can relate. It's important for Luhan to realize he isn't alone, then, so Sehun pulls back a little and lowers his head to tell his boyfriend this with a gentle breath across Luhan's lips.

"Baby, I feel the same way about you."


	12. Luhan: Start Rebooting the System (Kai Shi Chong Qi Xi Tong)

A cough breaks the moment between them, and the building's security guard raises an eyebrow in somewhat of a threat. He's a keeper of the peace, after all; that includes enforcement of the university's code of moral conduct.

Locking lips with his boyfriend in the dorm's front hall, then—not that Luhan thinks that's what was necessarily about to happen anyway—probably violates something in that ethical rule book. Tao and Yixing would be able to tell him for sure, what with all the demerit points Luhan's friends have gotten for their public displays of affection over the years. He doesn't think about that now, though, not with his boyfriend still holding tightly to his hands as Sehun's words beat in rhythmic remembrances to the steadying thump of Luhan's heart beat.

"I feel the same way about you," the famous dancer had said. It feels like mere seconds earlier—which it was—but also like eons have passed since Sehun's confession. Either way, all the words of defeat Luhan spent the previous night formulating in the dance studio fly out of his head like wisps. He isn't ready for this, Luhan's mind tells him. But he called you "Baby," his heart responds, and it's weight is stronger in the war currently waging between Luhan's logic and his emotions.

"But you're amazing," he finally says, ending the long silence that hovered between them after the officer's intervention broke their bodies apart. "Up there, when you were dancing," he falters and wills his tears away. He's cried enough.

Sehun frowns and cups Luhan's face. His hands are as large and rough as Luhan remembers from that first night they met, and it's a strange comfort for someone Luhan barely knows to balance him so easily like this.

"I was dancing for you," Sehun tells him, sincerity pouring off his body like waves. "The students here have seen me dance before."

Luhan opens his mouth to protest. He's seen Sehun dance before too; there was the show a few months earlier, but the dancer's popularity started on the Internet, for god's sake. Before he can speak, though, Sehun's thumb brushes across Luhan's lips and the Korean man shakes his head.

"This time wasn't about them," Sehun finishes with a finality that Luhan can't help drowning in. "This was about us. You and me."

There's nothing Luhan can say to that except a genuinely curious "But, why?"

Sehun has the grace to look sheepish when he answers that he isn't really sure why. "At least," he amends, "not yet."

Luhan's entire countenance falls and he moves to detract his hands from Sehun's hold. Unsurprisingly, however, Luhan's boyfriend doesnt let him.

"Please, Lu-Lu," Sehun pleads, voice desperate and his lip worrying subconsciously between his upper and lower sets of teeth. "All I know is that I like you. If you really need a reason, give me time to figure this out." At Luhan's mod, tiny and tentative but also hopeful, Sehun's face breaks into a grin. "You won't regret this," he promises.

They both choose to ignore the security guard's disgruntled "I know I do!" Instead, Sehun pulls Luhan into another hug and whispers, "Go on a date with me?"

Luhan doesn't say it, but secretly he thinks, I thought you'd never ask.


	13. Luhan and Sehun: Don't Be Afraid of This Kind of Feel (Bie Haipa Zhe Zhong Feel)

They decide, after much deliberation and disagreement, to go to the aquarium. Luhan, who was adamant about being the one to select their destination, didn't want a stuffy dinner that would only make him uncomfortable and make all the other diners interested. Sehun, who was equally adamant about being the one to select their destination, felt that since he had done the asking, not only should he select somewhere fancy and awe-inspiring to impress his boyfriend, but should also pay. For everything. Naturally, Luhan disagreed, and it wasn't until Yixing pointed out quite helpfully that this was their first date, but not their last.

"Probably," he amended after a moment, before ducking behind Tao's shoulder when Luhan's tiny fist came swinging his way. Sehun thought it was cute and had no problem saying so, and Luhan spent the rest of the time blushing pink to match the color of his strawberry bubble tea.

In the end, Luhan gets what he wants because he pouts a little and Sehun caves almost instantly, cursing Kyungsoo as a manager who never uses aegyo and so made Sehun defenseless to it. Luhan likes the fish, he tells his boyfriend shyly. Sehun just says "I like you," and maintains that at least Luhan should let him pay. Luhan does—because Sehun's guerrilla confession leaves him temporarily speechless—and as first dates go, their's is a smashing success.

Except for when it isn't because someone recognizes them eventually and Luhan is too kindhearted to deny Sehun's fans a picture with their precious oppa.

"If it were me," he says thoughtfully in answer to Sehun's surprise that Luhan wasn't more bothered by the whole thing. "I would want to be able to meet you and take a picture and get an autograph. So why should I be the one to get in the way of those girls doing the same?"

Sehun guides Luhan with a hand to the small of his back onto the moving walkway of the shark tunnel, then turns his boyfriend toward him and leaving his hands gripping warmly to Luhan's upper arms. "Why are you so amazing?" He asks almost rhetorically, gazing at Luhan like the Chinese boy is the true wonder of the exhibit and not the enormous x-rays and tiger sharks swimming above their heads. Luhan frantically tried to formulate a response, but any words he might have stuttered out are muffled anyway when Sehun smiles at him fondly and pulls him into a tight hug.

Instead, then, Luhan whispers a quiet "Thank you" to the heavens for Sehun and to Sehun for being just as wonderful as he seems to think Luhan is.

As Sehun pulls out of their embrace, he drops a sweet peck to the tip of Luhan's nose. "You're welcome," he says cheekily, accompanying his words with a wink. Luhan rolls his eyes but smiles when Sehun doesn't let him go and merely turns Luhan's body so they're standing comfortably in a back hug. In comfortable silence, the two watch the majestic sea animals until the tunnel ends, and when they walk toward the exit, it's Luhan who slides his fingers down past Sehun's elbow and entwines their fingers.

"You know," he mentions to Sehun a while later as they board the bus back to Luhan's campus hand-in-hand. "You never asked me why I disappeared the other night, right after the showcase."

Sehun nods slowly, contemplating his response. He apparently settles on silence and wordlessly links their arms once seated.

"Why?" Luhan asks after a moment. He isn't trying to fill awkward space or be a pest, but he genuinely wants to know.

"I knew why," Sehun finally says. "Know why," he corrects himself. "After the show was over I went looking for you but you weren't backstage and your friends said they saw you leave when they had to come up for air." Sehun grimaces at that detail and Luhan laughs. That sounds like Yixing and Tao alright.

Sehun laughs along with his boyfriend, though the sound is quickly quieted when Luhan takes a shy peek at Sehun's face and boldly lays his head on the dancer's shoulder. The Korean boy swallows hard, but continues.

"And then I looked everywhere but you were nowhere and I was doing a really good job freaking out. Yixing told me you were fine, and, like, I knew that, logically. But still, you were gone."

Luhan presses his lips against Sehun's shoulder in apology. He's sorry to have put his boyfriend through that stress, even if he hadn't known at the time that Sehun even cared enough to search for him.

"But then," Sehun's voice hushes and Luhan leans into his boyfriend's side a little more in anticipation, "Kyung-hyung told me something that changed everything."

That makes Luhan pause. "Who?"

"My manager," Sehun supplies. He gestures with his hands as he describes, "Short, brunette, big eyes, kinda frowny?"

Luhan thinks to the small man who'd held Sehun's hand when they'd crossed paths at the airport, and is glad he hadn't said anything about the spark of hurt and jealousy he'd felt then. He doesn't think he could have handled the embarrassment.

"Oh," is all he says to that revelation. "So? What did he say?" Luhan prompts when Sehun gets distracted by some thought or another and stares out the window silently.

"Kai is Jongin," Sehun mutters. Luhan doesn't understand, but when he says so, Sehun just repeats himself.

"Kai is Jongin. And Jongin is Kyung-hyung's boyfriend but Kai is also part of EXO and hyung wasn't ready for the backlash of being open about their relationship, so no one really knows about it." Sehun says all of this with one breath like it's a secret he's been holding for too long and is glad to finally be rid of. "Hyung told me that's probably how you felt. That you might not understand why I chose you. That you might not think you're good enough when I've got fans all over the world. He said that's how he felt, at first."

Luhan hums in amazement from his spot pressed into Sehun's side. "What changed?" He wants to know, privately hoping that Sehun's manager and Kim Kai of EXO found a magical elixir for the same problem Luhan currently had with Sehun.

"Jongin learned to show hyung how important hyung is to him, and hyung learned to trust that his boyfriend's feelings were true."

"That's it?" Luhan asks, skepticism bleeding into his body as he leans back to look into Sehun's face. He's checking for sincerity, but what he finds is a gentle smile, eyes crinkled kindly at the edges, and a look of something close to love in his boyfriend's expressions

"That's it," Sehun agrees, leaning forward to kiss Luhan's forehead this time. He stays with his face close to Luhan's own for a few extra beats and adds softly, "Believe that I like you, Luhan. Believe that it's real. I can take you on a different date every day of the week, but you have to believe me."

"I'm trying," Luhan tells his boyfriend in despair. "Really!"

Sehun pulls Luhan back into his side but doesn't remove his lips from his boyfriend's forehead, and the two sit like that for the rest of the ride. As their journey comes to an end—and with it, their first date as well—Sehun whispers into Luhan's hair, "I know you are, Lu-Lu. I know."


	14. Luhan: Listen Clearly to This Song (Ting Qing Chu Zhe Shou Ge)

Luhan is forced to try and believe in the genuineness of Sehun’s feelings when Sehun has to fly back to Korea a few days after their first date. The Chinese boy never once thought Sehun would stay with him in China, but he wasn’t exactly trying to focus too much on his boyfriend’s departure date either, so when the dreaded day arrives he’s not entirely prepared. Being apart is never a pleasant experience for any couple—though Luhan does an admirable job keeping his tears back when Sehun hugs him tightly and tells him “This is not goodbye, okay? Think of it as something more like a definitive ‘See you soon’.” Still, there’s nothing keeping him from breaking down in Yixing’s arms once Sehun’s plane is in the air and later as he sits snuggled between Yixing and Tao on their dorm couch, Luhan comments quietly “This sucks.”

Yixing nods into his friend’s shoulder while Tao makes a noise of protest—good cop, bad cop, those two; Luhan appreciates it. “It does suck,” Yixing agrees feelingly; Tao, undeterred by the distance between them, reaches his long arms across Luhan’s front to flick Yixing under his chin.

“Negativity gets you nowhere,” he tells them wisely.

Luhan pouts dramatically; Yixing takes this opportunity to poke childishly at his friend’s bottom lip and Luhan makes sure to put a tooth shaped indent into Yixing’s skin before saying “But it makes me feel better, Taozi.”

Yixing, who’d yelped as Luhan unapologetically bit his finger, whines about the things he does for his best friend and offers to let Luhan cause him further bodily harm if it will get him out of his funk of missing Sehun. Tao has obvious issues with that suggestion, but he had no cause to worry because Luhan’s too old now to wrestle his anxieties out with Yixing like they used to do when they were younger. The memories of those days get him smiling though—maybe that was Yixing’s whole point—and the three of them spend the rest of the evening watching bad television and eating cereal by the handful straight out of the box.

This activity gets him an emoji of disgust when Luhan texts Sehun just to catch his boyfriend up on the events of his day. He doesn’t bother messaging a clingy “I miss you” until Sehun does it first, still unsure about how much affection he can show to this boyfriend he’s only just gotten but apparently already fallen so deeply for. The phone in Luhan’s hand vibrates incessantly after he admits to missing the Korean boy as much as the other admitted to missing him; when Luhan hesitantly answers Sehun’s call, it takes no time at all for the bundle of nerves that had been sitting heavy in his stomach since the dancer flew away to disappear completely.

“I like you, Lu,” Sehun reminds his boyfriend patiently. His voice is crackly through the poor international connection but Luhan doesn’t mind.

“I like you too,” Luhan responds automatically, because he does.

Those first few weeks of separation are pretty much the worst. There’s lots of comforting snuggles from Luhan’s friends and even more late night phone calls between him and Sehun, but Luhan still catches himself humming Yixing’s most recent composition “Miss You Much” under his breath as he hurries between classes exactly a month after Sehun leaves.

“This still sucks,” he grumbles to Yixing as he collapses into the seat his friend saved for him in one of the few classes they share. Yixing rolls his eyes instead of agreeing this time around, and with some effort recites two ancient proverbs back to back from memory. Clearly, Luhan thinks, Tao’s wushu wisdom is rubbing off on his boyfriend—along with other things…

“Disasters do not walk alone,” Yixing remarks, voice low and purposely dramatized. “But! Rebellion creates capability.”

Luhan failed Chinese literature when they were back in high school and reminds Yixing of this with some annoyance. Yixing tries again.

“Misfortune seems to come all at once, but when life gives you lemons,” he pauses to look at Luhan knowingly, “or a famous foreign boyfriend who lives an ocean away, make lemonade!” When Luhan looks nonplussed at this advice Yixing adds “Or else, do what Sehun does. Make another dance video.”

Well that’s new. “He posted a video recently?”

Yixing’s clearly disappointed that Luhan’s not up to date, but he also knows that Luhan decided after really getting to know Sehun that he didn’t want his fan appreciation for the _dancer_ to color his growing affection for the _man_. He doesn’t miss the opportunity to sigh though, just like Luhan doesn’t hesitate to tease “Such a drama queen! We need to get you to stop spending so much time with Tao!”

He doesn’t say it too seriously because Tao is obviously his friend too, or else Yixing would have retaliated much more violence than the twisted pinch he leaves bruising in the skin on Luhan’s side.

“Fine,” he remarks petulantly a safe while after the professor stops glaring vividly at them—Luhan’s surprised shriek pain was loud, to say the least. “Watch the stupid video yourself then.” Luhan says that he will, thank you very much, and to that Yixing mutters “Why do I even bother?” under his breath.

In the end, Luhan watches the video in the library after class. The earbuds he borrowed from his friend do indeed leave him to watch Sehun’s most recent update in his own little world, only Yixing’s hovering from across their study table and knows the exact moment of the big reveal even though he can’t actually hear it.

Luhan’s cheeks are a pleasantly shocked pink that matches the color his hair used to be before he thought he’d go for blonde this time around, and Yixing grins at him when he whips the headphones from his ear in amazement. “I—that’s—Xing!” he finally settles on. “You gave him your song?”

Yixing shrugs. “Sort of?” It’s clear that Luhan doesn’t understand, or else is too impatient to attempt to understand on his own, so Yixing keeps talking. “He said he wanted to surprise you for your anniversary—and this would have been on your actual one month, Lu-Lu, if you still bothered to subscribe to his channel—and asked if I had any ideas. You were singing “MYM” for like the billionth time and I thought, why not?” He shrugs again like it isn’t a huge deal that one of his compositions is blowing up on the internet; that the reviews Luhan finds time to read later are super complimentary toward this commemoration of a small milestone in his and Sehun’s relationship, but also _really_ interested in finding out the writer/singer of that song; that Sehun leaves a link to Yixing’s SoundCloud in the information box and it eventually leads to Yixing getting a phone call of interest from the biggest recording company in China.

“So, Lu,” Yixing ponders aloud when all of this happens over the course of less than a week and before any of them know it he and Tao have complimentary tickets on the next plane to Beijing. “Is this what being viral feels like?”

Luhan shoves him, but not too hard—Yixing’s precious cargo now—and gives Tao his best glower when Yixing’s boyfriend titters at him. “You got a free plane ticket to drag your boyfriend along to your record deal,” he points out. “You tell me?” Yixing just grins at him in pure happiness and Luhan finds himself returning the smile gladly.

“A setback may turn out to be a blessing in disguise,” Tao shares sagely with a wide, curling smile of his own.

“Oh oh!” Luhan shouts, “I know this one.”

“Every cloud has a silver lining,” he and Yixing recite together. Luhan thinks of his best friend’s newfound success, of Tao’s unjealous pride in Yixing’s achievements, of his growing fondness for his own boyfriend, and for Sehun’s steady way of showing Luhan that he chose Luhan for a reason.

“That’s so true,” he whispers to himself as Yixing gives Tao an openmouthed, giggly kiss of excitement which turns into a prolonged make-out session over the open suitcases they still haven’t packed. “So true.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter before the epilogue. Thank you for taking this journey with me; I hope you enjoyed it! <3


	15. Tao and Yixing: We've Got That Good Good

**Epilogue: Some months later…**

“Xing!” Tao shouts through the open door between his seat at his bedroom desk and the kitchen where his boyfriend is grabbing a snack. “The video’s up!” There’s a clattering sound that Tao hopes isn’t anything fragile falling to its death on the tiled kitchen floor, and soon Yixing is rushing into the room to slot his chin onto Tao’s shoulder in anticipation.

“Well,” he prods impatiently, “let’s watch it then!”

Tao laughs—Yixing’s never been big on delayed gratification—but dutifully pushes play like the good boyfriend he is and doesn’t complain when Yixing’s fingers curl frantically into his forearm either. They’re both nervous so the familiar backdrop of Sehun’s personal studio is a comfort; Yixing even laughs aloud when his best friend’s boyfriend’s face pops into the screen out of seemingly nowhere. The angle’s vaguely unattractive and the shot’s a little too close for comfort, but the fans probably eat it up—just like Yixing and Tao do.

“Hello everyone!” Sehun says after a half bow of greeting. His voice is cheerful, happy even, but other than the slightly more pronounced crinkles of laughter around his eyes the dancer’s expression remains as impassive as ever. “I know some of you are concerned about me and Lu’s relationship,” he continues his introduction, “but we’re still going strong. No need to worry!”

Yixing says that he’s glad Sehun’s dealing with that issue right off the bat; there were very few seconds between Luhan accidentally setting his relationship status to “Single” and him correcting it to “Private,” but Yixing distinctly remembers his friend’s distress that Sehun would think they were breaking up the same way they got together—impersonally and over SNS.

“My boyfriend’s just a little hopeless when it comes to technology is all,” Sehun summarizes the story in one sentence, his mouth quirking a little to the side in an affectionate grin. Yixing hears the “Jerk!” in the background because he knows to listen for it, but Tao hadn’t known Luhan was going to Korea over summer break and shrieks in surprise when the Chinese boy’s face appears next to Sehun’s on the screen.

“I am not hopeless!” Luhan whines back, smacking Sehun’s arm playfully before turning toward the camera for a bow of his own. “It’s nice to meet everyone. You all probably already know this but I’m Luhan.”

“My boyfriend!” Sehun interrupts with poorly concealed glee. He puts the shorter male into a headlock and when Luhan growls cutely in faux anger, Sehun pecks the top of his boyfriend’s head and smiles winningly at the viewers. “He _is_ very cute, huh?” he repeats his words from that fateful dance cover when he first acknowledged his and Luhan’s relationship. Yixing knows without looking at the comments that the parallelism won’t be lost on Sehun’s fans; Tao’s groan of “Just like before! Ugh, why are they so adorable together?!” makes it obvious enough.

Luhan’s blush is indeed quite adorable, and it’s clear that Sehun finds his boyfriend absolutely captivating because it takes him a moment to tear his gaze from Luhan’s face and return his attention to the video. He coughs, awkwardly, and apologizes to the viewers for being a sap, then introduces the real point of the video and the true reason Tao and Yixing are so excited to watch it.

“For today’s cover,” Sehun remarks as he returns to business, “I’ve asked a few friends to sing for you while I dance and Lu films it. This song is pretty special to us,” he adds, pulling Luhan close again, “because it’s by the same guy who wrote the song I used in our one month anniversary video.”

“Yixing-ah,” Luhan shouts in excitement, “Congrats!”

Those are the last words either of them speaks until Sehun’s finished dancing, but when Chen and Xiumin of the boy band EXO appear on-screen, Luhan doesn’t have to verbally coo over their entwined hands for everyone to tell how sweet he thinks they are. Without ever separating their hands, the two idols introduce themselves and bow as well, then tell the viewers how much of a privilege to guest on Sehun-ssi’s channel while singing one of Yixing-ssi’s awesome compositions.

“’Everytime’ is part of the OST for _Descendents of the Sun_ ,” Xiumin reminds proudly, and Tao plants a congratulatory kiss on Yixing’s lips for coming so far in such a short time. Yixing accepts happily but turns his attention back to the screen in time to hear Xiumin say, “Please be sure to watch the drama, purchase the soundtrack, and continue to support EXO, Sehun-ssi, and Yixing-ssi in our work!”

“And us,” Chen tacks on at the end of Xiumin’s spiel. “You’ve been so positive about Sehun and Luhan’s dating news. I hope you will treat mine and Min’s well too!” Xiumin’s face turns a bright red at that and when Chen pecks his newly-revealed boyfriend’s cheek they’re both shy but so obviously happy too.

Luhan can be heard “aw”-ing from where he’s gone back behind the camera, and Sehun, poised to begin in the middle of the room, shoots his boyfriend a look—that everyone watching the video also sees—and then winks. Xiumin, who’s standing impossibly close to Chen and staring at him with bashful rapture, opens his mouth and starts to sing.

“Oh, everytime I see you,” he belts out the opening lyrics effortlessly and it’s clear who he’s singing to. Sehun moves his body with equal fluidity and focus, his gaze pinned to someone unseen—but not at all unknown. Yixing imagines that Luhan’s inner fangirl is probably freaking out, but the part of him that’s still learning to love Sehun is probably melting too.

“You know,” Yixing tells his boyfriend after the video ends and all four of the men present bowed again, this time in thanks and goodbye, “I wrote that song for you.”

Tao smiles and pulls Yixing into his lap. The moment is all kinds of cheesy but Tao’s feeling romantically inspired and doesn’t hesitate to shower his boyfriend’s face in kisses. “I know,” he tells Yixing. “I always have.”


End file.
